A private company has begun to chop down and remove about 200 trees on Kim Ma and Nguyen Thai Hoc streets in the capital city.

Trees chopped down on Kim Ma Street, Hanoi. The capital city plans to replace about 200 old and unstable trees on Kim Ma and Nguyen Thai Hoc streets.

Company officials said yesterday that the trees are rotten or in danger of falling.

They said a pilot project to remove sick and weak trees and replace them with new ones aimed to improve traffic safety and make the capital city more beautiful.

It is the first time that the city is carrying out such a project that is invested in by a private firm, the Ha Thanh Construction, Investment and Consulting JSC. The project is estimated to cost VND3.5 billion (US$165,100).

Under the project, 52 rotten and four weak trees would be chopped down on Kim Ma Street. The corresponding numbers for Nguyen Thai Hoc Street are 144 and five. The work is expected to be completed by Friday (December 5).

The chopped trees will be transported to a storage facility in Dong Anh District.

Hoang Cao Linh, director of Ha Thanh company, said workers would cut down the trees early in the morning and plant new ones late in the night.

The new trees, with an average diameter of 15 centimetres, will be transported from the northern province of Hung Yen.

The company will tend to these trees for eight months before transferring them to the Hanoi Green Tree and Park Company for further management.

Nguyen Minh Nguyet, a resident of Alley 95 in Kim Ma Street, said she was surprised to see that so many trees were being cut down.

"I guess it has to be done, if they are replace these with new trees for safety reasons," she said.

"The trees might be rotten, but I think the more important thing is that they were planted in a disorderly manner."

Nguyet said she was told that they would plant new trees immediately after chopping down the rotten ones.

But "it will take time to get big trees. Now part of the street looks bare," she added.

In August, city authorities had approved the felling of more than 30 perennial trees in Kim Ma Street for the building of a metro line from Nhon to the Hanoi Railway Station.

The area around Kim Ma Street and Thu Le Zoo is well known to residents as a green area because of the presence of big old trees.